Week’s opportunities include music festivals, drama, books galore

By Charlie Hall, Sun Journal Staff

Published: Sunday, February 17, 2013 at 05:13 PM.

The Classical Lunch is Tuesday at the Bank of the Arts on Middle Street, a noontime one-hour event. It features popular festival artists, Bonner and pianist Melvin Chen, as well as Lucht and violinist Rachel Harmatuk. They will present works by Haydn, Faure and Poulenc.

The Festival continues with Tango After Work on Thursday at New Bern Civic Theatre. It is at 6 p.m.and features tangos composed for the concert stage by Piazzolla, performed alongside traditional Argentine tangos with special guest dancers from New Bern’s Rivertowne Ballroom.

The festival concludes with a special Anniversary Concert Saturday at First Baptist Church. Hause will present a pre-concert discussion about his work and the musical inspiration he draws from Eastern North Carolina at 7 p.m. The music begins at 7:30 p.m.

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Craven County Health Department Hospice offers a Bereavement Support Group for anyone grieving the loss of a loved one.

The free sessions will be held on six Tuesdays, beginning this week, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at McCarthy Court Apartments on Glenburnie Drive.

There is music aplenty this week, with music festivals in New Bern and Pamlico County.

Craven Concerts has a show tonight, the 10th annual Carolina Chamber Music Festival has three programs in downtown New Bern this week, and Pamlico Community College hosts the N.C. Music Heritage Festival Saturday.

Book-lovers have three days to view and buy the thousands of selections at the annual Friends of the Library book sale at the Sudan Shrine Center in New Bern this weekend.

There is also high drama by the RiverTowne Players over the weekend at the Masonic Theater in New Bern.

Here is a sampling of the week’s events:

The New Bern-Craven County Public Library will be closed today in honor of Presidents’ Day.

On Tuesday, programming returns with “Lunch ‘n Learn — Wild and Wacky North Carolina.” It features Matt Englebrecht, WITN-TV meteorologist, who talks about the area’s sometime unpredictable weather. Bring a brown bag lunch. Refreshments will be served in the Hayden H. Jones Auditorium for the noonevent.

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The Abrams Brothers from Canada bring original and traditional bluegrass favorites to the Craven Concerts Series tonight at Grover C. Fields Performing Arts Center in New Bern.

Season tickets to each of the Craven Concerts 7:30 p.m. performances are $45; patron tickets are $60 and include admission to concerts with affiliated associations in Washington and Goldsboro.

For more information, call 637-1119. On the web: Cravenconcertsinc.org

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The Carolina Chamber Music Festival continues this week in downtown New Bern.

The festival was founded and is directed by harpist Anna Reinersman and cellist Jennifer Lucht. It includes the flute playing of Keith Bonner; an evening of tango music and dance; a retrospective of favorite works from years past; and the world premiere of “Confluence.” It was written to celebrate 10 years of the festival by its first Composer in Residence, North Carolina native Evan Hause.

The Classical Lunch is Tuesday at the Bank of the Arts on Middle Street, a noontime one-hour event. It features popular festival artists, Bonner and pianist Melvin Chen, as well as Lucht and violinist Rachel Harmatuk. They will present works by Haydn, Faure and Poulenc.

The Festival continues with Tango After Work on Thursday at New Bern Civic Theatre. It is at 6 p.m.and features tangos composed for the concert stage by Piazzolla, performed alongside traditional Argentine tangos with special guest dancers from New Bern’s Rivertowne Ballroom.

The festival concludes with a special Anniversary Concert Saturday at First Baptist Church. Hause will present a pre-concert discussion about his work and the musical inspiration he draws from Eastern North Carolina at 7 p.m. The music begins at 7:30 p.m.

***

Craven County Health Department Hospice offers a Bereavement Support Group for anyone grieving the loss of a loved one.

The free sessions will be held on six Tuesdays, beginning this week, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at McCarthy Court Apartments on Glenburnie Drive.

The Pamlico County Genealogy Association and the Pamlico County Library host apresentation by George Shelton Sr. on Tuesday to discuss growing up in Pamlico County and his years at Holt Chapel School. It was a Rosenwald School. In the days of segregation, Rosenwald Schools were built for black students in communities across the South.

The Holt Chapel Schoolis now the community center, one of a few remaining in the region.

“Death of a Salesman” was first performed in 1949, and since that time has become an American classic. It tells the story of Willy Loman, a failing salesman who struggles to attain what he considers to be “The American Dream.”

Tickets are available in advance for $12 at the Bank of the Arts, $15 at the door and $10 for students.

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The New Bern Friends of the Library Winter Book Sale is at the Sudan Shrine Center Friday to Sunday in New Bern.

Salehours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.Friday and Saturday, and 2 to 5 p.m.Sunday.

The biannual sale raises funds to support special projects for the library.

The assortment ranges from children’s books, fiction, paperbacks and politics to do-it-yourself, cook books, music and religion.

Call 638-7800 or on the web site: Newbern.cpclib.org

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Broad Street Social Club hosts the Woody Pines Band Friday for a 9 p.m. show.

The doors open an hour before the concert, and tickets are $6.

The band has Woody on guitar, banjo, harmonica and lead vocals; Zack Pozebanchuk on upright bass; Nathan Taylor on drums; and Darin Gentry on fiddle.

According to the band website, it epitomizes the Dixieland sound and embraces a simpler time. “New Orleans has music seeping out of the bricks in the old French quarter,” said Woody Pines of Asheville, who lived in New Orleans to study the city’s famous music scene.

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Pamlico Community College hosts a musical festival and an oyster fundraiser Saturday.

The N.C. Music Heritage Festival begins at 10 a.m. in the Delamar Center and is part of a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the state community college system.

The festival — Movin’ and Shakin’ — is a showcase of music and dance.

The entertainment includes the Jonkonnu Dance Troupe from Tryon Palace and multi-instrumentalist Simon Spalding, the emcee, with a talk and concert called “Around the World in 80 Tunes.”

That is followed by jazz with baritone Willie E. Atkinson and his trio.

The music concludes with the rhythm and blues beach sounds of Carolina Casuals.

The concert is free through support from the Pamlico County Arts Council and N.C. Arts Council.

At 3 p.m., it’s time for the third annual Great Oyster Revival, a fundraiser for the college foundation to help students with educational expenses.

The Pamlico Flutes will play at the event, which costs $30. There is also chili on the menu.

Tickets are available at the college bookstore and at Denton’s in Oriental. Call 249-1851, ext. 3084.

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The Pamlico Animal Welfare Society has a fundraising yard sale Saturday at the Oriental Woman’s Club on Gilgo Road.

It is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and donated spring cleaning items — except clothes — in good condition are welcome in advance. They can be dropped off Friday from 2 to 5 p.m.

On sale day, hot dogs will be available. Call 249-3513.

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College financial aid officers and specialists will be available at Craven Community College on Saturday to help high school seniors and families with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms online. The event is from 9 a.m. until noon at the college’s New Berncampus.

Kathryn Banks, the college’s director of financial aid, said it is important to complete the FAFSA early to take advantage of all the financial aid opportunities available at the local, state and federal levels.

To pre-register on the web:CFNC.org/FAFSAday

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The New Bern-Craven County Public Library hosts a Black History Month Celebration Sunday with music, songs, poetry, skits, mime and praise dance. Admission is free for the 3 p.m. event.